The brothers somehow made it to the English Doctor's home in one piece. However, Arthur quickly learned that their strength was basically sapped from their bodies. Quickly making an excuse to the people, Arthur was able to convince them that the two were suffering from hypothermia or something of the like from the cold. He didn't know how, but they had managed to fix the dam before everything had gone down, and he had a terrible suspicion that they had been out all night until the attack had happened. That would mean that they had been out in the cold for at least nine hours, lifting and stacking wood in the cold water, building the dam back up from scratch by themselves. Unless, of course, some of the villagers had been out with them. But even then, that meant that he had plenty of potential illnesses building up in the men. Sighing, he placed another kettle over his fire, while Allistor built the fire in the stove. Pumping air, the room grew warmer and warmer while the townspeople stayed gathered in the other rooms, trying to warm each other by staying close and near the fires.
"Are ye a'right Artie?" Allistor asked, while Vladimir scratched his nails along the floor, filing them down. "Woul' ye stop tha' Vlad? Tryin' ta hold a conversation with me brother."
"Oh, well excuse me. My nails being long and pointed would really help the situation, so I apologize for my rudeness." Vladimir said sarcastically, red eyes flashing at his friend. "Is there a way to plan for the next attack though?" he asked.
"What do you mean?" Arthur asked. "And lower your voice. You'll alert the others."
"I mean." Vladimir said, lowering his voice considerably. "Do you have a plan in case the family of frightful snowmen come back? Our fire power seems to be out of commission "from the cold" at the moment." He pointed out so very quietly that Arthur and Allistor had to lean in to hear. "Unless we can get the black smiths here to cooperate, I can't help much."
"What do you mean? You mean the cross that you gave me?" Arthur asked, looking at the man.
"Well, when I told you that its weakness was iron, I was only telling half the truth." Allistor shrugged, looking around like he wanted to avoid the gaze of his younger brother.
"What?"
"He meant blood." Vladimir said, sitting up straight and looking at the younger of the two. "See, while iron is protective, it's not all powerful. However, because Ice breathers are already dead, and don't have any blood to bleed, it becomes their weakness. But even more powerful than that, is supernatural blood. Like mine, or your sheriff's there. Or even yours… to an extent. You have some magic."
"What are ya?" A voice said from behind the Romanian. He didn't seem as surprised as the other room's occupants. He merely turned to look in the doorway to see the Sheriff standing in the doorway. His eyes were slightly drooped with tired, and his left hand rested on his right shoulder while he leaned against the left shoulder. Dark lines were under his eyes and his face looked almost as skeletal as his Rider forms.
"Well as your father would have called us, a weyáǧope, more commonly known as a vampire." Alfred nodded, looking into his Vladimir's red eyes with his blue ones. "Kind of rude to call me something that means leech bat." He said with a dark smile. "I've never turned into a bat in my life. And I avoid them too, because their screeching gives me an ache of the cranium like no other."
"But you kill the innocent for your own gain." Alfred said darkly. Vladimir threw his head back and barked a laugh.
"Never. I've only ever killed one man in my life. And that- was a long time ago. Trust me, he wasn't innocent." He said darkly. "But that aside" His tune seemed to turn cheery again. "How do you plan to fight back when you're fresh out of energy?" He asked.
Alfred glared, still untrusting of the new man in town. But he stood straight, and walked past the three, proceeding to crouch in front of the fire. Without warning, he stuck his hand in, and Arthur instinctively yelped and jumped forward to stop him. But Alfred held his hand up and stopped him, surprisingly steady for his squat on the floor. But the other three were forced to watch as the Sheriff's hand caught fire, and turned to bone. The flames remained around his hands, drifting like an aura as the man pulled his hand out of the stove. Vlad looked ultimately interested and fascinated as the skeletal hand was turned and examined by its own owner. Arthur had an emotion across his face, a mix between awe and concern, while Allistor looked ultimately like a child on Christmas morning.
"Tha's amazin!" he said cheerily. "Does it hurt? Does it do that on its own- or do ye have to control it yerself?" Allistor gazed on the flames with utmost respectable interest and fascination. He truly wanted nothing more than to learn more and understand what was happening.
Alfred smiled- a completely out of character smile, Arthur noticed. It was too small and not sunny bright like it should have been. It was more pained and slightly sad. Small. And the smile didn't spread to his eyes. But they shone like stars anyway. It seemed as though that shine never truly left, that fire of justice that always burned there.
"Yeah- it hurts like the dickens at first. Guess it's sorta ta be expected, I'm literally burning my skin an muscles away. But after a minute, it's just warm. It does it on its own. Pa said that it was a curse that ran through Mattie and I's blood. So it acts up on its own when I touch fire. But when I act up myself, it just sort of… creates itself." He said slowly, sitting completely on the floor. "Mattie knows more about the whole 'how it works'. He remembers what Pa says better than I do."
"Amazing." Allistor said, looking at the burning appendage. "And I suppose tha's why yer so exhausted after? Yer literally recoverin' from burnin an' growin' yer skin back?"
"I see. So it is your literal body burning, I wondered that. Far before I even knew it was you." Arthur said, leaning back against the wall beside his bed.
"What do you mean?" Vladimir asks.
"Well I wondered if it was a projection of your soul, or the actual taking of form. Despite the improbability that someone could project their soul and live to tell about it, I did wonder."
"Magic is strange like tha'." Allistor nodded. "Where's yer brother?"
"Restin'. He needs plenty o' it if he's gonna be gettin' up tomorra." Alfred said. "He's been usin' his power a bit more than I have lately." He leaned back, his hand suddenly becoming devoid of flame and then growing back its muscles with a sickening creak accompanied by a wet sound, followed by his layers of skin. All three witnesses made faces of disgust at the sight. "That first night ya got here… I was too tired after the trip ta do it myself, so Matthew saved me. Apparently Lil' Peter saw it." Alfred ticked off on one finger. "Then he used it ta search for ya in the flood. I found ya, but he had decided ta look on the other side of town. So he used it longer then. Then he rode around town some more ta find any last stragglers. So he's wiped out. Not ta mention the rain really takes it outta us."
"Then he will rest as long as need be. I'll make sure of it." Arthur said sternly. "As for you, since you seem to be on the mend, could you explain what on earth is going on? Even if it's just a brief description, it would be utmost helpful." Arthur was crossing his arms again, which came as a boding look to the younger man.
"Yeah, well. Seein' as yer not as foreign to the world o' the super-na-tar-ell, I suppose I don' havta start from the beginnin'." Alfred sighed. "That'll make things shorter.
Our Ma was, like I toldja, from England. Born and raised till about fifteen or sommat. She moved here with a promise fer land or some thing like that, but she met my Pa, Kwahu. He was a Red Skin from the Lakota tribe off of the land of Colorado. They got married when they was about twenty or so. She found out she was gonna have a kid soon. Pa said they were both Glad and all, but worried because of how the folks round here take ta the natives.
Pa and Ma lived in Colorado fer most of the pregnancy, people aint as bad about it up there. But then they were forced ta move ta Texas cuz o' the cold weather. So they moved up, but the wranglers didn't much like Ma and Pa bein' together. But since they had no place else ta go, they stayed. Pa took to the life of a wrangler like a horse does to Oats. He was a tough fella, and was able ta train horses like nobody ever seen in their lives.
Ma had the baby, well babies. They was twins. But both were stillbourn. Both Pa and she were real upset, but when Pa came back from diggin' the graves, They was both kicken and crying like proper babies do.
Pa was real worried, cuz he knew they was dead before he left. But he didn't say anythin' cuz Ma was so happy.
Couple o' years later, about when Me and Matt was two I think, Ma came ta Pa and told 'im she did sommat real bad. That she was sorry. He didn't know what ta think o' that, but she was dead the next day. Shot right in the head. Killed herself while he was out workin.
Pa raised us up till we were eight I think. Real good man, but the men still didn't like him none. One night, he was tellin' us stories and all, when these men barged in an' took him away. They shot 'im, right in the head. Just like Ma. Right in fron' o' me and Mattie. That's when we found out we was Riders. We panicked and turned Ghost on em- Like Mattie calls it- and ran away. Buried Pa somewhere out in the Desert and came here a few years later.
What we didn' know at the time was that if ya look into our eyes when in that form… and ya have a bad soul, it burns ya. Or well… it burns yer soul right outta your sockets. We didn' know that, but it turns out we killed the men that killed Pa. An' that's where the Ice breather's come in. I think we killed their Pa. So they swore revenge, and tha's where we are now. They found us."
Silence for a long time. The five in the room stared at each other, trying to sort out their thoughts.
Wait…. Five?
"Matthew! When did you get in here?!" Arthur asked, looking at the twin that sat just across from his brother.
"Just a moment ago. When Al was talkin' bout Ma and Pa in Texas. By the way, that stuff about the soul burnin? You've got a good one Arthur, I looked right inta yer eyes when ya first got here." Arthur nodded slowly, remembering the moment well.
"That long? Huh, I thought ya came in a bit later." Alfred shrugged. "By the way, that guys a Vampire."
"Really?" Matthew looked at him with interest. "Interesting. If you kill anyone, you won't know what happened." He said without even changing his tone.
"Yes sir." Vladimir mock saluted. "But now that we know, what do we do?"
"Well, we need to have a defense and offense plan." Matthew said. "But we need to clear up the town in order to be able to do that. And by clear up, I mean empty it out. Every person that an Ice Breather kills, is another soul in their stomach. It makes them more powerful."
"Is there anything that makes you more powerful?"
"I'd like to say we're already at maximum energy before anything even starts." Alfred said. "But we aren't sure that it's the case. We don't know much, but we have noticed that we're a bit more powerful on a new moon. Fire burns hotter."
"Really? So I suspect you're least powerful on the nights of full moon?" Arthur asked, folding his arms again in thought. "That's how some supernatural beings work. Like the werewolf… and Vampires." He pointed out. "Does that mean your curse is blood related?"
"Nah- not from what we could dig up. Pa clearly knew it was sommat Ma did. But we aint sure what that was yet. Mattie has an idea though." All eyes turned to the spokesperson's twin.
"Well…" Matthew started nervously. "I suspect Ma was so upset when we was stillbourn… I think she done made a deal with the devil." He explained. "I dunno if she knew what it would do, but it worked to bring us back. But I think…"
"You think the deal made you into Ghost Riders?" Allistor finished, looking at the two, who nodded.
"We aint positive, like Al said, but it's a hunch. And the only one that makes sense to us at the moment."
"But what about that soul burning thing? Can't you just look into their eyes and it be done?"
"No can do Ace, they aint got souls." Alfred answered the doctor with a sigh, rubbing his face with his gloved hand. "That'd make life a whole lot easier if we could."
"Well that's all well and good I suppose. But now… we need to get thinking about a plan to get rid of these Snowmen. Your fighting them tonight was exemplary, but we need a backup plan. How are you going to fight them if they come when you aren't ready? You both seem weakened at the given moment."
"Well I'll be fine by mornin'. Mattie might take till noon or so, but we'll be fine. Lucky fer us, Ice Breathers don' come out durin' the day. They're limited to night like us." Alfred explained, ending his sentence with a yawn. "So lets do the plannin' tomarraw- and sleep t'night." He said. "By the way, the steam in the upstairs was runnin' out. So I re-heated the water."
"Oh- thank you." Arthur nodded, deciding not to ask how he had done that. He was about to suggest he go lay down properly, but both of the brothers were asleep within seconds. Arthur frowned. "They'll hurt their necks like that." Standing (His foot had fallen asleep) he gimped over to them and pushed them down gently by the shoulders until they were resting peacefully on the ground. He turned to his brother and friend. "You had best get some rest too. There is a lot to do tomorrow."
"Sure thing little brother." Allistor yawned as well, laying back down on his blankets. Vladimir nodded, but made no move to lay down. Instead, he stood up and started towards the door.
"And where are you going?"
"To get something to eat. I do- after all- have limits to the energy I have as well as you do."
"Alright, just don't kill anyone."
"You know I would never, Arthur. Ah- and it's good to see you again. You haven't changed a bit."
"Neither have you." Arthur smiled with tease lining his every word. Vladimir scoffed, and then was gone.
The next day was full of cleaning up, stacking, rebuilding and organizing. Allistor found himself amazed at how well a leader Alfred was to the townspeople. They followed his every order happily, never asking questions unless it was about how to do something they weren't familiar with.
He was also amazed at how well his brother handled all of the sick and hurt. After the nights attack, many were left with small head colds or injury. His brother handled all of it well, bandaging and giving medicine to those who needed it quickly and efficiently. All at the same time, he would help rebuild and clean up the town in between patients. It actually made him a proud older brother.
Allistor found himself enjoying his own work. He had ended up helping two fellows, Gilbert and Matthias, lift and carry wood off to this small shop that had only barely been spared of the flood. It had taken hours to clear it up of debris and water damage, but the tools inside had gotten trapped in a niche along the wall that a man named Berwald, declared happy that he hadn't fixed like he had intended to. With most of these left, they were able to jump-start reconstruction.
The Sheriff's home had received the worst damage. It had been completely knocked over and flooded, basically destroyed down to its every single foundation board. Matthew's small home was just as bad, save for the floors were still present. (a major difference when it came down to it) but that seemed to it for total home destruction. All of the rest were just majorly water damaged and needed the floors replaced. With Tino and Berwald in charge of all this, the tasks went by seamlessly, leaving them to estimate that they would be a quarter of the way done by sunset. Since the other buildings wouldn't quite inhabitable yet, the people decided to sleep over in Arthur's home again. The idea had already, by noon, been agreed upon. Not one towns person was against it. And since many more blankets had been gathered, washed and dried, it would be far easier to keep warm.
The weather, however, had decided to put them in an even nastier spot. Just before high noon was to come around, clouds were already blocking out the sun. The grey sky was already spreading chill for the oncoming storm.
"Alright, get the covers inta Ace's place. Dry 'em the best ya can over the stoves and warm the place up before the chill can set in." Alfred instructed with as much calm as before the storm. "Get the women and children ta safety, Matt and I will go check on the dam, Gilbert, Ludwig, Allistor, come with us. Felix, Toris, make sure the horses are on high ground. We're gonna need 'em fer goin' ta the next town fer supplies tommorra. . Sadiq, get yer son and make sure we have food fer the next few days. If we don't, tell me what ya need so we can gather it later. We don't know how bad this one'll be, so we gotta be prepared fer anythin' and everythin'."
The townspeople set about doing as told. Allistor went back with the named men to go and check on the dam. Getting on a horse, a lovely brown and white painted breed with hazel eyes, leant by Toris and Felix, they rode hard and fast down the river toward the reservoir. Upon arrival, they were horrified to find that a large dent had been blasted through the top of the newly fixed dam. Allistor didn't have a doubt in his mind that it was from the Ice breathers.
"We've got about two hours tops before the storm gets bad. Let's get ta gettin!" Matthew called, leaping off of Avenger with vigor. Everyone followed suit and began gathering logs and thick branches, then wading through the high waters to pack them in and make sure of the sturdiness of the whole thing. The cold of the water was biting heavily to their skin and right to their bones. They felt the chill going down their spines, but pushed it aside in favor of fixing the dam in time for the storm.
After an hour of hard, driving work, the five men found themselves, once again, in a heavy rainfall that seemed to try and drown them. Their mouths and noses were all filling with water, suffocating them tremendously with its onslaught. Allistor struggled to lift log after log up to Matthew and Alfred, who placed them firmly on the top of the dam. Ludwig and Gilbert, (brothers that Allistor had learned on the trip over, were two huge fellows that were probably able to lift Avenger and Liberty over their head without a second thought) hunted around for said logs and branches. Luckily, there was a forest glade nearby that had been practically destroyed in the last storm. So finding them was the least of their problems.
"Alright! Last logs in!" Alfred shouted over the onslaught. "Get ta the horses! Let's get outta here!"
With multiple affirmatives sounding from the other four, Matthew and Alfred jumped down from the top of the five meter dam, landing loudly in the water, feet first. They swam to the shore, shivering from the cold by now, even their lips were blue, and leapt onto their horses.
"YAH!" Matthew yelled, getting their horses to take off in a scurried frenzy of beating hooves. Avenger and Liberty lead the way, clearing a path for the smaller horses as they went. The storm pounded against their skin and faces, blinding the riders. It forced them to rely solely on the sights of their horses. Allistor felt incredibly uncomfortable with this, because he had been informed, as they were leaving, that his horse was blind in one eye. Despite the fact that Matthew had assured him, saying that Alfred had trained her himself, he didn't feel comfortable. It was absolutely terrifying to know that his horse was unable to see… on one side he supposed. Not sure which side that was.
"Hey! Village ahead, don't get off track!" Alfred shouted. "Just keep Matt and I in sight! We'll make i-"
A huge explosion went off, throwing Alfred, Matthew, Allistor, Gilbert, and Ludwig off of their horses. Landing with a huge THUD, Allistor groaned, rolling to his side. He knew that for sure that he had broken or dislocated something. There was no doubt in his mind, which was a feeling that he was beginning to become accustomed to as of the last day. And not for good reason, he suspected. There was another un-doubt in his head… that the ice breathers were near.
Looking up, two tall figures in white were standing in the trees. Two horses floated nearby, their manes and tails drifting like thin bandages in the wind. The Ice breathers stared down, their purple eyes glowing like stars, unwavering in their ferocity.
"Run." Alfred groaned.
Hello all! I tried to include fluff like some USUK fans asked of me, but failed. Sorry bout that. I find it difficult to write above a sort of 'caring brothers' sort of relationship, but ya know... But I did try to satisfy. But I did do that because YOU GUYS ROCK. You left a ton of reviews! So I did my best to write as fast as I could! I kind of even skipped over writing my other story... (BTW They left almost no reviews so we can just haha to them) The more reviews I get the more I just wanna write! So I thank you so much!
